Electrical apparatus



Feb. 11, 1941. F. M. JOSEPH 2,231,124

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS Filed Nov. 17, 1959 1 INVENTOR.

Franc/s M Jose/oh BY ORNE A Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATESA PATENT oFFlcE 2,231,124 ELECTRICAL 'APPARATUS Francis M. Joseph, Cliside Park, N. J., assignor' to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend,

Ind., a corporation of Delware ApplicationNovember 17, 1939, Serial No. 305,024 z claims'. '(01. 17a-32s) This invention relates to electrical connectors adapted to be used, for'example, in the control of current supply to' various instruments and accessories used on a motor vehicle or aircraft,

' 5 and more particularly to a connector in which one of these may be rotatable in relation to the circuit making contact members enclosed with init.

" In the Holliday and Stout patent there is disclosedva retainer plate engageable with shoulders on the plug to hold the latter against displacement longitudinally of the insulating block in which said sockets are confined; the said retainer plate having parallel slots extending to the periphery of said plate to permit itv to be moved into position across `the reduced ends or neck portions, ofthe sockets, the positioning movement being transversely of the assembled sockets; such transverse movement beingA posthe ability of the retainer plate to resist displacement due to pull on the conductors, for the material remaining between the slots is readily flexible and may accordingly be bent backward and out of position. Tocombat this tendency the patentees Holliday et al. found it necessary to resort to additional retaining means, in the form of a set screw passed through the center slot, and gripping the insulating block itself. Such a set screw is shown at 36 in the drawings of the Holliday et al. patent.

'I'he use of parallel slots, as in the Holliday et al. patent, requires that all conductor terminals be in corresponding parallel rows; and where the unit is circular in shape the use of such parallel rows involves a sacrifice of space,v

cular area will accommodate a greater number of smaller circular units when such smaller units are placed in staggered, or oiset, alignment,

rather than in parallel rows.

Moreover, where an additional retaining screw becomes necessary, such as the screw 36 of the Holliday et al. patent, this screw further reduces the space available for circuit terminals.

It is an object of the present invention to provide terminal retaining means of a construction such that its use in a circular unit of the Holliday et al.A type will make it possible: (1) to stagger the terminal alignment and thereby increase the in a unit of a given diameter; and (2) to eliminate the set screw retainer of Holliday et al. and thereby further increase the total number of circuit elements that can be housed in such a unit. Y

Other objects of the invention Vwill become apparent from inspection of the following specification when read with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein is' illustrated the kpreferred embodiment of the invention. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawing is forI the purpose of illustration only, and is not designed as a denition of the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of a device embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a .longitudinal sectional view of the plug of Fig. 1, separated into two units, spaced one from the other;

Fig. 3 is an end View of the insulating block forming part of the assembled right-hand unit of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of the retainer plate forming another part of the assembled right-hand unit of Fig. 2; i

Figi 5 is a view indicating the position of the retainer plate in relation to the insulating block,

The' plug is composed of two principal units, r

as seen in Fig. 2, socket unit 2.

The jack unit comprises a base block 3 of suitable insulating material such as Bakelite namely, a jack unit I and a and a shell member 4 which may be desirably 5 number of circuit elements that can be housed 10 made of aluminum. The jack unit may be attached to the junction or other box by means of screws 5, which extend through openings on the shell base 3, as shown. The base lserves as an abutment for heads I3 of terminal posts 9, and is provided with a number of passages for receiving the shanks 9 of said terminal posts. Nuts I9 are threaded on the outer ends of the terminal posts 9 for clamping conductive terminal members of wires |2 to the respective posts.

Shell member 4 is provided with an internal thread I9 for coacting with an external thread I9 formed on a. shell member 20, the latter shell member forming the housing member of the socket rmit. The shell member is cylindrical in form and is provided at the rear end thereof with an internal annular shoulder 2|. A bushing 22 has an external flange 23 thereof disposed within the shell 20 against the shoulder 2|, and the body of the bushing projects outward through an opening in the rear end of the shell. A cylindrical spacer sleeve 24 of insulating material is set in the shell against the flange 23 of the bushing 22. A socket assembly 25, which will be described in detail presently, is set in the shell against the spacer sleeve 24, and the elements are retained in place by means of a resilient split retaining ring or wire 21 which is snapped into a groove formed in the shell 20, adiacent the mouth thereof. The described parts may be readily taken out of the shell for inspection, repair or replacement by rst removing the retaining ring 21.

The socket assembly 25 comprises a cylindrical socket block 29 which is free to rotate relative to the shell 20. The socket block has a plurality of bores 23 extending through it, each bore being reduced in size at its forward end to provide a rearwardly facing annular shoulder 29. The

ber 30 is provided with a bore 3| in axial align-l ment with the reduced forward portion of the bore in the block.

Each socket member 33 has a reduced rear end portion 32 and is provided with an abrupt annular shoulder 33 surrounding such reduced portion. The shoulders 33 stand substantially ilush with the rear face of the socket block 29, and the reduced portions 32 protrude beyond the rear face of the socket block. Y Each of the reduced portions 32 has a. central, axial recess 34 formed in it, in which an electric wire may be soldered.

The sockets 30 are all held in place in the socket block 29 by the retainer plate 35, best shown in Fig. 4, with holes 39, each having a contour corresponding in part to the contour of the main section of the terminal sockets, and in part to the contour of the reduced end portions 32 of said sockets; and each hole being spaced from its neighbors by an amount identical with the spacing of the holes in the block 29. Thus it is possible, by offsetting the plate 35 slightly in relation to the block (Fig. 5) whilevholding one in abutment with the other, to pass each wire, with its terminal, through its proper hole in plate 35 and into the proper hole in the block 29 it being understood that the wires (one of which is shown stalled, the plate 35 is shifted back to the concen- 5 tric position (Fig. 6) thereby locking the terminals in the block 29, since the shoulders 33 thereof prevent-in the position of Fig. 6--the passage of any terminal through any hole of plate 35, and

the smaller parts 32a of each plate hole now it '10 snugly about the reduced ends 32 of the terminals. After the wires 39 are inserted into the plate and socket block, the plate 25 is shifted laterally, as above described, and then-and only then-is the assembly zo. 2| and 22 drawn aiong 15 the wires and into its final longitudinal relationship to the block 29; the said elements 20, 2| and 22 having theretofore been loosely disposed at some distance back from the terminal ends of the wires, although in surrounding relation thereto. 20

It will be observed that, due to the unbroken periphery of the plate 35, there is a uniform retaining pressure evenly distributed along the end surface of thrust-reaction sleeve 24; hence there is no need for additional retaining means such as 25 set screws or the like.

The iinal operation, as in the Holliday et al. patent above identified, is to screw member 30 into member 4, thus producing the completed assembly as viewed in Fig. 1. This screwing to- 30 gether of the shell members forces the terminal jacks 9 into the sockets 3| of the socket members 33, and causes good electrical connections to be made. During this screwing up, block 29 is held -against rotation (by the inter-engagement of 35 jacks 9 therewith), there being a smooth, free ilt of the block within the shell.

What I claim is:

1. In an electrical connector, a socket unit comprising a shell member, a socket block there- 40 in, a plurality of conductive socket members set in the socket block from the rear and each having' a rearwardly facing shoulder and a reduced rear end portion, a retaining plate having openings"V spaced in staggered relationship and away from 45 the periphery of said plate, the contour of said openings conforming in part to the contour of the major portion of said socket members, and in part to the reduced rear end portion thereof whereby the retaining plate can be moved later- 5o ally into embracing relation to all of said reduced portions, and means for holding the retaining plate against the back of the socket block, said holding means comprising a cylindrical sleeve against which the retaining plate bears along the 55 entire unbrokensurface of its periphery.

2. In an electrical connector, a socket unit comprising a shell member, a socket block therein, a plurality of conductive socket members set in the socket block from the rear and each hav- 60 A ing a rearwardly facing shoulder and a reduced rear end portion, a retaining plate having openings spaced in staggered relationship and away from the periphery of said plate, the contour of said openings conforming in part to the contour 65 

